Hospitality management students' conceptions of education

The major issue addressed in this study is the alignment between the institutional conception of education and the students' conceptions of education, decomposed into three parts: conceptions of knowledge, conceptions of teaching and learning, and conceptions of assessment. Subjects in this study were 324 students enrolled in a four-year hospitality management programme. Three instruments were administered to measure students' conceptions of education. Results indicate that the three sets of conceptions seem to fit in the traditional-constructivist dichotomy with students showing a congruent pattern in the three sets of conceptions. Finally, first-year students hold more traditional conceptions of education than senior students. The implication for educational innovations is that serious attention should be paid to the development of students' conceptions of education.